TIM BUSH

EDUCATION MARKETING MANAGER

With the Christmas decorations now packed away for another year and the race to shed the festive excesses now in full force, it can only mean one thing; it’ s time for the BETT edition of the # TheFeed.

For the Microsoft education team, BETT is a special time of the year where we meet with our broader community and provide a stage for our Showcase Schools and MIEEs to share their stories / best practice. For this special issue, the first since our break over the summer term, we are aiming to replicate this vision in digital form.

# TheFeed has always been about showcasing the great schools we work with, and in issue 8 we are doubling down on this obsession and

have collated some great content for you to help ease the January Blues and see you through to BETT, itself.

As a true gadget geek, myself, our‘ What’ s new in Microsoft’ article opens with an update on HoloLens. I have had the privilege of trialing HoloLens on a couple of occasions and am excited about the impact that mixed and virtual reality will have on creating new learning experiences in the classroom and beyond.

# TheFeed has always been about showcasing the great schools we work with, and in issue 8 we are doubling on this obsession.

Check out our opening story to hear more from the HoloLens team on what’ s next for this amazing device. I can’ t wait to get my hands on one at home!

To complement this story, Merlin John discusses the role of school leadership in ensuring the use of technology in the classroom supports teaching practice and has a positive impact on student outcomes. In typical Merlin style, this thought-provoking piece, while celebrating the use of technology in the classroom, counteracts this with the need for this to be not just for a small minority of schools to benefit from, but something the whole sector can embrace. Let us know your thoughts!

Continuing with the leadership theme, Alan Crawford talks about the

launch of an exciting new programme – Microsoft Training Academies – that aims to inspire and motivate schools up and down the country about what is possible with technology in the classroom. I am personally a huge fan of how our Showcase School community is helping to mentor and support neighbouring schools, and this programme formalises this approach and makes it available more broadly. The Microsoft Showcase Schools, will be on the Microsoft Partner Campus at BETT. Make sure you pop over and say hi!

Lastly, no issue of # TheFeed is complete without a device review, and we don’ t disappoint in this issue. Paul Dredge offers up some great insight on the fab Linx 1010. Check out his review and let us know what you think.

We hope you enjoy this latest issue and look forward to seeing you at BETT 2017!

MANDEEP ATWAL

EDUCATION AUDIENCE MANAGER

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